good Italian food... and a good reason to eat it: by Victory

As if I ever needed a good reason to eat Italian food… but, I have to tell you about Caioti Café, in Studio City –since some of us may not, unfortunately, get to go to Italy any time soon -(Lib said that I could be creative with how I work in the Italian theme). When I was pregnant with my first daughter (first of 3 girls!), I was miserably overdue by 10 days. My husband was kind enough to drive to Studio City to pick up a sure-fire way to trigger labor: the “the” salad, aka “the maternity salad.”

This is directly from the restaurant’s website : Caioti Pizza Café continues to offer the "The Salad" that has become legendary and a rite of passage for expectant or overdue Moms. The salad dressing can also be purchased bottled to go, or you can visit the Maternity Salad Dressing website at: www.maternitysalad.com (they didn’t offer the TO GO dressing when I was needing it most!)

I ate the salad for dinner, and went into labor at 9pm that very night. My daughter was born the next day. That alone would have made the salad worth it, but the best part was that it was SO tasty too!!

Legend has it, you have to be overdue. I wrote them a letter and sent them a picture of my precious baby girl. It still resides in one of their guest books. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend the café – nice ambiance and great food, even if you’re not overdue!!

This is the photo I sent in:

And, in case you are looking for a more upscale Italian eatery - Via Veneto in Santa Monica is out of this world. With close-packed tables and a loud atmosphere, you'll think you stepped right into Venice. AMAZING food!!! I've never quite experience "melt in your mouth" like I have here!!!